Fifth-Place Finish for Elis

CAMBRIDGE, Mass — The Yale men's fencing team wrapped up competition on Sunday at the Mar. 2-3 Ivy League Championship with a 16-11 victory against Brown.

The win here at Harvard's Albert H. Gordon Track left the Elis with a 1-4 record that earned them a fifth-place finish, ahead of Brown, which posted a 0-5 record. Hosts Harvard took home the Ivy League Championship with a clean 5-0 record.

Sunday's match-up against the Bears provided the Bulldogs an opportunity to turnaround their performances the prior day, in which they fell to Penn, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia. They took that opportunity and snagged a strong 16-11 win, which included 5-4 verdicts in both saber and epee competition, and a 6-3 result in foil competition.

Several of Yale's fencers posted solid individual performances that put them within the top-16 in their weapon in the Ivy League. In saber competition, sophomore Hugh O'Cinneide and senior Nate Benzimra tied for 12th place individually. In foil, sophomore Sam Broughton and freshman Jin Ishizuka finished in 12th and 15th place, respectively. And in epee competition, junior captain Cornelius Saunders and junior Peter Cohen tied for 12th place.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that our recent results accurately reflect the true ability of the team; we have a talented squad that is capable of defeating all of the other teams present," Saunders said. "The postponement of the competition—along with a difficult schedule—wasn't conducive to an optimal performance. However, the team demonstrated resolve by clinching the last match against Brown despite our previous losses. We have a young team with a bright future."

The Ivy League Championship wraps up the fencing season for the Bulldogs, although 10 Yale fencers will compete at the NCAA Regional competition next weekend on the basis of their strong performances throughout the season.